Just a greeting
by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi
Summary: A quick Gaara-centric oneshot for his birthday. slight Nejiten and GaaTen implied.


**Disclaimer: **I don 't own Naruto

_**A/N : Just a quick oneshot for Gaara's birthday... slight GaaTen / Nejiten**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
JUST A GREETING**_**  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

Gaara froze.

He wasn't quite sure what was happening. Moments earlier the young Kazekage had been sitting quietly in his office, shuffling through a stack of paperwork some inconsiderate person had piled on the already enormous mountain that existed atop his desk. At some point, he'd heard voices behind the wall of paper and immediately recognized them as his siblings and one other person. Gaara hadn't really thought much of investigating, as it obviously didn't concern him, otherwise they would have called out upon entering the room. So instead he decided to continue on with what he was doing, hopeful that if he stayed focus, perhaps a third of the work could be finished before sunset. The red-head had been so focused, however, that he failed to notice when the voices grew closer, and he completely ignored the moment that someone walked up behind him and wrapped thin and delicate arms around his body and then began to squeeze him from behind.

His first instinct, after the initial shock of course, was to crush whoever had dared to surprise him. But when he realized there was no malicious intend behind the act, he had decided against it. Breathing in deeply, Gaara turned up from his work, to see his brother and sister staring at him with a curious expression on each of their faces. It was a mixture of bemusement and apprehension. Clearly they were amused by his discomfort, but they also seemed slightly terrified for the person behind him. Considering what he had been about to do with his sand, it was not at all surprising they might fear for her.

And it was a _her_, right?

Looking down at the toned, yet feminine arms that held on to him, Gaara confirmed that it was in fact a female who was holding him. Earlier too, the voice he had heard speaking with his siblings, had been that of a female. There were very few girls be could think of that his siblings got along with, and none from their village that they both happened to like. In fact, there was really only one female he could think of that both Kankuro AND Temari found pleasant.

"Tenten?" the young red-head called out as he turned his head to the side to confirm his guess.

"Hi!" the bun-haired girl popped her chin on his shoulder, leaving their faces mere inches apart as she smiled cheerfully in his direction. When their eyes locked, the girl's strong arms suddenly squeezed gently around his torso, surprising the former-jinchuriki further still.

"What are you-"

Suddenly she stopped, and pulled away, standing back up right, and using her momentum to push and turn his chair so he was now facing her. "That was for Lee," she explained, before leaning forward and quickly pushing her face very close to him. The confusion of what was occurring prevented the red-head from saying or doing anything further, as he curiously observed the kunoichi lean forward and press her lips against his cheek. "And that was from me," she added, before standing back up and smiling down at him.

Now he was thoroughly confused as to what it was that was going on. Next to him, Temari and Kankuro were doing their very best to stifle their laughter, but it was clear from the mirth in their eyes they were enjoying the younger man's social ineptitude.

Was it really his fault that he'd never been around other people before? And that even those that surrounded him rarely ever dared to invade his personal space bubble; something for which the hopeless insomniac wasn't completely against, but which only further isolated him from others and prevented him from ever fully appreciating the social norms to which most people were accustomed to. And from the manner in which the bun-haired girl was behaving, it didn't seem as if anything that she had just done was at all out of norm to her, so clearly it had to be him that wasn't getting it.

Seeing the confused expression in his eyes, the weapons mistress let out a soft giggle. Perhaps because of his position as leader of his village, others behaved in professional manner around him, rarely giving into over-friendly behavior, thus making it so that Gaara rarely got to hear laughter around him. This girl, along with the rest of the other friends he and his siblings had in Konoha, was different though. She laughed constantly. A high pitched, bubbly laugh that seemed to float and linger in the air longer than it seemed likely. It was infectiously warm, almost as if it would fill one up from outside in. He kind of liked it. It was for that reason he continued to remain silent as she laughed quietly, until at last she calmed herself and took a deep breath.

"Happy Birthday," Tenten smiled, before reaching out behind her and pulling out a small box which she quickly handed to him.

He took the box, which she later informed him had been a present from all of his friends back in the Leaf village, and opened it; thanking her for delivering the package and remembering that it was his birthday, even though he himself had neglected to remember.

That afternoon, he and his siblings, along with the bun-haired girl, celebrated the occasion by eating out at a fancy restaurants in the village. It had been rather joyous and fun occasion, even Gaara had enjoyed himself, joining in on the conversations and occasionally laughing at the appropriate moments. During the course of the evening the bun-haired girl had finally explained to him that the embrace and the peck on the cheek were common practice when greeting or congratulating someone. In this particular instant it had been both, because she had been greeting him as well as wishing him a happy birthday.

A month later, when the sand siblings had been dispatched to Konoha on some political mission, the red-head had spotted a group of his friends standing in front of Naruto's favorite ramen stand. He hadn't really paid attention to who it was that was standing there, except of course for Naruto and Lee, who both always seemed to stand out in their own unique way. The one person he _had_ taken the time to notice, however, was the very same bun-haired girl, whose birthday he happened to know was that month. Without really considering anything else, Gaara had thought to put into practice what she had taught him during their previous encounter. Skillfully he had walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her petite frame in the same manner as she had done to him when she'd last visited Suna. He continued to do so for a moment, as he tried to remember what came next. Before he could remember, however, he was forcefully pushed off the kunoichi by the white-eyed shinobi that had been standing next to Lee the whole time. He was about to push back, when Kankuro and Temari intercepted and grabbed on to either arm, while Lee and Naruto did the same with the Hyuga. Fearing that a fight might lead to unintended political consequences, though he wasn't quite sure why the other man even wanted to fight in the first place, Gaara has relaxed his posture, and easily pulled away from his siblings. It was then that he remembered the second part to the greeting he'd initiated, and thus quickly returned to the bun-haired girl's side and pressed his lips against her cheek, whispering a soft "Happy Birthday" in her ear, before the enraged Hyuga began pulling against the grasp of the now six shinobi restraining him from both his arms and legs.

_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-  
**_**THE END  
**_**-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-**_

_**

* * *

**_

hehehe... what can I say, I will always be a Nejiten fan, but I do have a soft spot for GaaTen unrequited/one-sided love. Although this one wasn't quite as much "love" as it was just making Neji jealous ;p... it didn't exactly come out the way I wanted it to... it's not the same unrequited love voice I like for Gaara, but I guess maybe I'm out of practice for Gaara... should try to write him more again I guess... still I liked it well enough.

I could have put this into my B-day collection but the truth is, I think I'm getting tired of collections, I'll just be uploading each oneshot individually. (except for my Kibahina, ShikaTema, and NejiTen... at least until I reach chapter 100 in each).


End file.
